1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of dispensing machines. More particularly, this invention pertains to computer-enhanced dispensing machines and to a subassembly for use therein for storing pharmaceutical items at a controlled low temperature for later dispensing to hospital personnel for treatment of a patient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of healing is a wonderfully advancing science. As recent as 50 years ago, most treatment was based upon aspirin, sulfur compounds and lengthy bed rest. Since that time, science has developed antibiotics, pain killers and numerous other medicines that make treatment easier and healing much faster so that now the treatment and healing process takes significantly less time. The result is that more people can be treated in less time, and with better recovery results, than could be accomplished at the end of World War II.
Recently, astonishing discoveries in the field of genetics have identified the cause of many illnesses that have heretofore been thought untreatable and/or incurable. Altering genetic codes to cure or prevent these maladies is now underway and the future is promising to unveil a period when most human suffering will be reduced to virtual non-existence.
In this fast-developing era of advances in medicines, it has become necessary to store certain medicines at lower than room temperature to prolong their active life to allow them to be used over a broader period of time. Without this cool storage, the medicines soon lose their effectiveness and must be replaced. Many of these medicines are expensive and the loss of a single dose through poor storage increases cost of treatment. In addition, to be quite certain of maximizing the effective life of the medicine, the storage must be carefully controlled within strict limits of minimum and maximum temperatures.
Sorrowfully, while these tremendous advancements are taking place in the field of medicine, there seems to be no like improvement in basic human behavior. Drugs, such as pain killers and certain hallucinogenics, used for treating pain as well as certain illnesses such as glaucoma, are the target of dishonest persons who will steal them from pharmacies and medicine-dispensing machines to either use them or sell them for profit to other unfortunates. Other medicines such as those in the genetic field, are so expensive because of the costs of making them, that they are desired by dishonest people who will sell them to the highest bidder. All of this nefarious activity has created a burden to hospitals and other treatment centers to provide costly security and accounting procedures to the handling of many of these medicines.
The prior art has already been introduced to the practice of dispensing pharmaceutical items, such as pre-loaded syringes, ampules of special medicines and other such items from controlled access storage in medication dispenser stations such as that disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,875. This station is a computerized medicine dispenser station of the type having a cabinet that houses a plurality of openable drawers in stacked arrangement containing pharmaceutical items in locked storage therein for retrieval following instructions inputted by treatment personnel to a computer integrated with the station. A control unit on the cabinet is programmed to unlock pharmaceutical-stocked drawers, one at a time, to permit access to the pharmaceuticals with the access being contingent upon keyboard entry of a predetermined access code and other selected information sufficient to generate an access record. The computer inputs also update pharmacy records and generate patient billing accurately reflecting the use of the accessed pharmaceuticals.
The problems encountered in providing controlled cooling to one or more drawers of pharmaceutical items are many and unique. In the first place, the temperature of the air surrounding the pharmaceutical items must be kept at a carefully controlled level so that prolonged opening of the drawer does not result in warming of the items not withdrawn from the drawer. In the second place, access to the entire drawer and its contents must be avoided to prevent a condition where security is breached. Thirdly, moisture should be controlled to prevent damage to the items stored in the drawer. These and other reasons have heretofore prevented the creation of a workable refrigerated drawer.